1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of controlling the operation of a page turning apparatus which mechanically turns a page serving as an imaging target.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a page turning apparatus which mechanically turns a page serving as an imaging target, an automatic page turning apparatus is known which includes a turning mechanism that turns each page of an opened book from a page-turning start point (one side of an opened page) to a page-turning end point (the other side of the opened page) by a tip end portion of a rotatable arm. When turning pages, this automatic page turning apparatus can efficiently acquire a series of page images by automatically photographing a page at each page-turning start point in conjunction with a page turning operation.
When pages are being turned over mechanically (imaging target pages are being sequentially turned over), the state of previously turned pages becomes unstable as the number of turned pages increases. For this reason, every time a certain number of pages are turned during the image photographing of pages, the user is required to hold a plurality of pages on the page-turning end point side with his/her hand or make the pages stable by using a holding tool such as a clip. Accordingly, during the image photographing of a series of pages, the user is required to stop a page turning operation at suitable timing while checking a page state on the page-turning end point side, which makes the imaging operation cumbersome.